Sand Captive
by drarythoughts
Summary: Egypt is a land thriving with culture and danger lurking behind every corner. Just what are the secrets that lie beneath her deserts' golden grains?
1. Chapter 1: Whispers of the past

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This story is dedicated to my beta Winter.poem, she just wonderful.

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Sand Captive

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Chapter 1: Whispers of the past

_I met a traveller from an antique land  
__who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone  
stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,  
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown  
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command  
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read  
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,  
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.  
And on the pedestal these words appear:  
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:  
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"  
Nothing beside remains: round the decay  
of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,  
the lone and level sands stretch far away_

The teacher stopped and closed the book, dropping it with a soft thump on the desk. He clasped his hands together and leaned back against its edge, staring intently at his students.

"Now, can anyone tell me what Mr. Shelly is saying in his short poem, Ozymandias?"

Complete and utter silence was the only response he received to his question.

Stifling a sigh, he swept his fingers through his aging hair and surveyed the room, trying, mentally, to find someone to answer.

The students looked away as their teacher's eyes peered into their own. They didn't know the question, and they didn't want to answer. The only thought that occupied their thoughts was the promise of summer and freedom.

Harry stiffled a yawn and shook his head in wonder at the simplicity of his fellow students. The question wasn't that hard to understand, but he could understand their desire to not to want to think so hard.

He groaned and knew he would regret it, but the answer had to be said if they wanted to ever leave the class on time for lunch. Hesitantly he raised his hand. Almost instantly the teacher called on him.

"Yes, Mr. Potter."

"Um, I think I know what Mr. Shelly is trying to say in his poem."

The teacher nodded his head and beckoned for Harry to make his way to the front of the room.

He ignored the tsk coming from his cousin, Dudley and his friends, and mumbled an apology for elbowing another student in the back of their head as he walked past.

"What Mr. Shelly is trying to say is that this man, Ozymandias, was of such great power and wealth that people were in awe of what he had accomplished. He considered himself the greatest king of all of Egypt and everything that a traveller saw was an extentison of his greatness. But as they say 'all good things must come to an end' so did his power. All the vast lands and wealth he had has vanished, and the only thing left to remember how impressive that ancient civilization was, is a statue with Ozymandias' name on it. Overall I think what Mr. Shelly is trying to convey is that power doesn't last forever."

He looked over at his teacher and sighed with relief as he nodded his head.

"That's right Harry, I couldn't have said it any better myself."

"Hmph, asswipe!" Dudley coughed, snickering through his pudgy fingers as the class glanced his way.

"Now, young man," the teacher started, but was cut off by the high pitch ring of the school bell indicating the end of the day. The students surged forward, trying to leave through the narrow door as quickly as possible. Dudley's warning was unheard.

Harry sighed and shuffled back to his desk to gather his things. He watched from underneath the fringe of his eyelashes, as other students began to call out to friends, leaving together in groups of two or more. He began shoving his books into his tattered green messenger bag, and ignored their whispers as they giggled and laughed together, enjoying one another's company.

He gave a weak smile at his teacher and headed towards the door/

"Wait a minute Mr. Potter."

Harry stopped in mid-step and glanced back at his teacher.

"Yes, Sir."

"Mr. Potter, as you may know I'm conducting a trip to Egypt this summer, where the students will participate in an archeological dig with other students from around this district. It's for the entire holidays, and I was wondering if you would like to come?"

Harry couldn't believe it. This was an opportunity of a lifetime! He could finally do something exciting, he could actually make friends. He sighed, he knew there was no point in getting excited, his 'family' would say 'no' no matter what he said. Spending such money on such a trivial thing was out of the question, especially if it concerned Harry.

"I don't know, Sir, my family-"

"Now Mr. Potter," his teacher said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "This is an oppurtunity of a lifetime and I'm sure your family would want you to partake in this. Did I mention this is quite a benefit to your college resume?"

Harry sighed. "I'll see what I can do, Sir."

"Good, good see you tomorrow Mr. Potter."

Harry bade his teacher goodbye and fell into step with the bustle of the hallway. All of a sudden he felt a firm pressure on his back, and harsh breathing down his shirt. He glanced quickly behind him and saw Dudley followed closely by his group of cronies.

'_Oh god, spare me._'

"What do you want, Dudley?"

Dudley, completely ignoring his question, gazed intently at Harry.

Harry recoiled back at the persistent scrutiny of Dudley.

"What's the matter?"

"What took you so long in there?"

Harry frowned in confusion, '_Was_ _Dudley concerned about me_?'

His friends snickered before leering at him from behind Dudley's meaty shoulder. "Probably giving head!"

Harry's eye flashed in anger, and he hurried away, not even bothering to glance back at them.

'_Idiots._'

It was a nice breezy day. The sun was shining brightly overhead and a gentle breeze caressed the warmed skin of those outside. Deciding to stall instead of heading home, Harry took a turn to the right, heading in the direction of the park.

The park itself was empty, and would stay that way until after three, when all the children from the pre-schools would came to claim it.

He sat down on the bench beneath a great oak tree, and tried to tame the raging anger and stress he could feel coursing through his veins. He had been feeling like this all day.

Sometimes he just needed a break from reality, and the park was the place to go.

_Creak._

_Creak._

The sound of rusty chains startled Harry from his thoughts and he found himself looking over at the swings.

Sitting on one of the faded wooden seats was a little boy, in quite a strange get-up. Flat sandals with golden straps wrapped around his small feet, stopping about two inches below his knee. A white, cotton tunic framed his small figure. On his arm was a golden clasp and hanging from the bottom resting against his skin was a ruby, glistening crimson underneath the sun light. His skin was a deep bronze and his hair was a dark brown, but it whipped wildly around his face as the once faint breeze turned into a fierce wind.

The boy continued to rock back and forth in a hypnotizing manner, always looking forward and tightly clasping the metal links. Harry watched him for awhile, his eyes glazing over slightly as time seemed to slow, and all was silent.

The boy all of a sudden stopped rocking and froze. He placed each foot down in the sand and suddenly stood up.

Harry continued to observe all of this with confusion playing across his features. The boy turned and frantically moved about, almost as if he was looking for something.

'_What is he doing?_'

Harry was curious, even though he tried not to be, but there was just something about this boy that seemed so out of place. This was England, for crying out loud. No one runs around wearing a tunic draped in golden bangles and rubies. That was just asking to be mugged.

Harry shook his head at the strangeness of the situation, not noticing the shadows that seemed to be gathering behind him. He heard a gasp and glanced up seeing the boy standing a few feet in front of him, his face screwed up in horror.

"What?"

The boy lifted a trembling finger and pointed behind him.

Harry raised his eyebrow in question, but stilled when he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and his flesh erupt into goosebumps over his exposed skin. He shivered slightly in fear and turned to face whatever force that was behind him.

Nothing.

It was absolutely nothing, but not in the sense a person would normally imagine 'nothing'.

It was nothing in the sense that it was shadows swirling tightly together. This nothingness ate up the shadows of the trees and Harry watched in awe as the tree crumpled into dust. He stared, dazed, as it crept its way across the sand.

The sand arose from the ground, and formed little pinpricks that one would believe to be eyes appeared. A wide mouth opened and spread into a good representation of a smirk.

The Nothing, as Harry had dubbed it, began to move forward in an agonizinlgy slow pace.

He felt his mouth become dry and he licked his chapped lips trying to moisten them. He stumbled out of his seat, and scurried to the top of the jungle gym away from the Nothingness.

The creature didn't stop and continued to follow Harry, at a snail's pace, its eyes never leaving Harry's.

'_Oh god, I'm going to die._'

"Yo, freak!" a boisterously loud voice called.

Harry's eyes flickered away from the Nothingness and almost sighed in relief, it was Dudley. Never in all his life had Harry thought that he would be happy to hear his cousin's voice.

He stared at Dudley, surprisingly he was without his posse.

He wanted to warn his cousin, but realized stopped when he reliased that the Nothing was gone.

Convincing himself that it was just an illusion, Harry sighed in relief.

"What the hell are you doing?" his cousin said, slowly emphasing each syllable, as he watched his cousin act even more, if possible, weird.

"Nothing, it's nothing don't worry about it."

"Whatever." The fat boy called. "We need to leave. Mum and Dad sent me to find you in case you're up to _something_."

Harry scoffed, '_More like, making sure I'm not spreading lies about what goes on in that house._'

He mumbled a response, and slid down the slide and fell into step behind Dudley. He kept his head down and tried to keep up with his cousin's long strides as they hurried home.

Sooner than he had expected he found himself, inside their house and on his way up the stairs.

He entered his room, and closed the door firmly behind him. He flipped the lights on and gazed around at his posters of all his favorite bands on the walls. He flopped down wearily on the bed, and covered his eyes with his forearm.

He thought of what had happened earlier slowly being replaced with the sweet nothingness that proceeded sleep. He smiled slightly and let sleep reach up and claim him.

He awoke later to a slight pressure on his forehead, as a warm hand caressed his cheeks softly. Snuggling deeper into the soothing gesture, he wondered briefly who it was.

'_Can't be Aunt Petunia, definitely not Uncle Vernon or Dudley_,' he thought sluggishly, before he slowly opened his eyes.

Hazel eyes were gazing down at him. Harry jumped and scrambling against the wall trying to get as far from the boy as possible. It was the boy from earlier.

"You!"

"Go to Egypt," the boy said in a melodious voice. He smiled slightly at Harry and without another word he disappeared.

Grains of sand were all that was left of him, as well as a snake bangle with the ruby enclosed in its mouth that Harry hadn't seen earlier.

Harry picked it up wearily, gazing appreciatively at the craftsmanship of the bangle. He held it up towards the light. It seemed to wink down at him from a certain angle.

"Egypt it is, guess I just have to convince Petunia and Vernon that it's a good idea."

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Like it or don't, let me know! Updates for this story will be slower since there is school! Sorry!


	2. Chapter 2: Convincing the Inconvincible

Again, this is for my beta. I haven't talked to her in such a long time it makes me feel guilty. if you're out there this goes out to you. Sorry, again for the long wait. Much love!

I would also like to thank the reviewers who reviewed; your patience has been rewarded!

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Sand Captive

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Chapter 2: Convincing the Inconvincible

"WHAT?"

Harry cringed as he watched his uncle slowly turn purple. His neck that was now nothing but a quivering mass of flesh seemed to bulge even more. He stood there, though not at an intimidating height, and he clenched his fist together until his knuckles turned white. It was a very unpleasant sight, but what could he do? He was asking a practically impossible question, one that required them to spend money.

"Now, now, dear," Aunt Petunia cooed, as she tried to soothe her purple, walrus of a husband but to no avail. He shoved her away and plopped down, graceless, onto his worn out seat.

"This...this freak is asking us to spend money on his worthless bottom! Money, did you hear me Petunia? Money!"

"Well," as Petunia began, wringing her hands, "maybe..."

"Maybe what Petunia," Vernon asked, though sounding harsher than he probably meant.

Petunia's face twisted into a look of deep apprehension, and she began to wring her hands together harder, her fingers turning a slight purple tinge.

She had an 'I'm going to regret this later' look on her face, but she went ahead and said it.

Dudley, who had been enjoying the spectacle, observed from the doorway of the parlor smirking endlessly. Harry glanced back and scowled deeply, as Dudley grinned toothily at him.

'_That bastard is enjoying this.'_

Aunt Petunia turned around, her face full of dread, finally spoke one of the many thoughts that she had never voiced.

"I think he should go."

Silence.

Her proposal was met with utter silence, that Harry could see the tangible form of disbelief sitting right on top of the coffee table.

"Wwhat," he stuttered, eyes bugging out behind his coke-bottled glasses. "Could you repeat that again?"

"Yes, please do, Petunia," Uncle Vernon agreed staring at his wife, as if she had sprouted a new set of tits.

"I think he should go," she repeated again this time more firmly.

'_I think...hell has finally frozen over or Aunt Petunia has grown a back bone,'_ Harry thought to himself, still in awe by his aunt's proposal.

"Why Petunia? Why are you siding with this...this boy?"

Aunt Petunia turned and glared at her husband, silencing him from speaking any further.

"I think Harry should go because we really don't do much for him. I never did much for him," whispering the last bit to herself, though Harry still heard her.

"But," Vernon sputtered, not able to find the words to express his opinion.

"Oh...do shut up," Aunt Petunia finally snapped, tossing her hands up. "You don't have to pay a single damn dime, you cheap, greedy man. _I will_ pay myself."

She stormed off to the kitchen in a huff and began to prepare dinner.

The three men of the Dursley household remained in there seat, still flabbergasted by what had just occur. A minute passed and it finally dawned on Harry that he was going to Egypt.

"YES," he jumped up, pumping his fist into the air. "I'm going to Egypt! Huzzah!"

He stumbled past his uncle, who was still stunned that his wife had told him to "shut up", and he smirked at Dudley, who looked like a fish fresh out of the waters.

Harry made his way slowly to the kitchen, where his aunt was chopping green onions and carrots and tossing them into a huge pot.

"Um, Aunt Petunia," Harry began shyly, "I just wanted to let you know that...I really am grateful for doing this for me."

His aunt stilled and she put the knife down on the cutting board and turned around, she stared at him leaning slightly against the counter. There were slight tears in her eyes, and soon Harry found himself enfolded within her arms. His aunt's tears dropped on his shoulder, and he found himself rubbing her back gently, comforting her. Harry managed to peer over her shoulders and saw his cousin and uncle standing there in shock.

What's going on they seemed to ask with their eyes but Harry just shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"I'm so sorry Harry. I haven't been a good aunt to you at all, and I have never done much for you. The way we have been treating you was really unfair, and now that I think about it I don't even know why I acted like that. I think that growing up with Lily was both the best moments of my life, as well as the worst."

"What do you mean, Aunt Petunia?"

"Lily was always better than me at most things. She was prettier, nicer, and smarter. I tried to make a name for myself growing up, but I was always referred to as 'Lily's sister' or 'The other one'. I always wanted to prove that I was better than Lily. She got everything, the perfect husband, life...everything. When I found out she died, I cried, honestly I did, but I was relieved. I thought that I was never going to be compared to anyone again, yet sad I lost my sister. Then I found myself having to raise you. Seeing you for the first time brought back memories, especially your eyes," she paused, brushing the curl that fell over Harry's eyes. "I thought, 'Lily's eyes'. And from there everything went down-hill. I couldn't stand how people on the streets would compare you to Dudley."

When she had mentioned Dudley's name, he perked up listening intently at to what she was about to say.

"People would always exclaim that you were so beautiful, gorgeous, or he's absolutely stunning, and the only thing they said about Dudley was 'that's one beefy baby'."

Harry had to swallow the snigger that nearly erupted from his lips, as he saw the crestfallen face of his cousin. When his aunt turned around, he mouthed it back to Dudley, who scowled and flipped him off.

"I felt that it was going to be the Lily Syndrome all over again, and that's when I stopped paying attention to you all because of my jealousy of my sister. I hope you can forgive me one day."

Harry watched quietly as she began to cry, and he gathered her in her arms.

"I'll be truthful, I'm still upset with you because this is a long time to try and make things up." He watched his aunt's face crumple within itself, "But I think we have time to patch things up. Letting me go to Egypt is a step towards recovery."

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_Next Day

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_

Harry watched his Literature teacher yet again try to get students to cooperate but his effort was in vain. Mr. Levine was a good teacher, he could give him that, but he sort of had to realize that his students are not interested in literature at _all._

The bell rang and Harry laughed softly under his breath, as his neighbor mumbled a, "Thank God."

Harry waited patiently for the students to leave, taking a longer time then what was necessary to put his books in his knapsack. When the last student left, Harry hoisted his bag onto one shoulder and walked over to Mr. Levine, who was leaning against his wooden desk.

"So Harry, what did the folks say?"

Harry grinned, brushing away a fringe of ebony tresses, "Surprisingly enough, they said yes."

"Good, just good," Mr. Levine said, patting Harry on the back.

"Aw, I wanted to give this to you," he mumbled to Harry, leaning back to shuffle through the mess on his desk. "Where the hell is it," he questioned, making an even bigger mess that what was on his desk originally.

"Aw, here it is," after awhile of searching. "This is the guide that tells you everything you need to know about the trip to Egypt. Look over that, fill some thing out and bring it to me sometime this week."

"Sure thing, Mr. Levine," Harry replied with a smile, and he waved goodbye as he left through the door.

The hallways were deserted and Harry began whistling softly, his song echoing through the still building.

As he was walking, he felt a familiar chill and turned around only to see nothing. He paused and still saw nothing.

'_It's just your imagination," _reason said, but his heart spoke of something else.

He exited the school unaware of the silver eyes that peered overhead.

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I updated. Everyone whistle and roar with pleasure! At first I nearly lost my inspiration for the story, but listening to the Gorillaz sure does make a gal feel better. I love the Gorillaz, kind of upset that they haven't made a CD in such a long time, but I can listen to Coldplay while I wait. Anyways, my plot fox is up and roaring and I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. **There will be a time skip next time!**


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